COSTA MESA, Calif.—The Gonzaga University women's tennis squad began its spring break with a big win Wednesday, beating 2014 NCAA Tournament participant Youngstown State 5-0 at Orange County College in Costa Mesa, Calif.

The Zags won all six matches to finish Wednesday, including two doubles matches to claim the doubles point. Katie Edwards and Samantha Polayes led off with a 6-3 win over Marta Burak and Sofia Mendoza at No. 1 doubles, and Kylie Peek and Franziska Koehler followed up with a 6-2 win on court three. Both doubles pairs picked up their team-leading sixth doubles wins of the dual season, although Peek and Koehler have a better record due to one less loss than Edwards and Polayes.

Ahead by one already going into singles, the Zags kept their momentum from pairs play. Alex Bourguignon made short work of Julianna Heino at No. 4 singles, winning 12 of 13 games played for a 6-1, 6-0 win. Wednesday's win game the freshman her eighth win of the season, the most on the team. She also leads the squad with 17 individual wins when considering fall tournaments, on ahead of Polayes.

Melanie Yates also posted a big singles win, taking 12 of 14 games from Victoria Ferry of the Penguins. Yates swept the first set and ceded only two games in the second for the win, equaling her biggest of the year. Yates and Ferry played at No. 5 singles.

Both Peek and Polayes finished at nearly the same time, but Peek's match ended just earlier, so the senior gets credit for clinching the victory. On court three, Peek defeated Nehel Sahni in straight sets as well, getting the 6-4, 6-2 victory. She remained undefeated at No. 3 singles and improved to 7-1 on the dual season. At No. 2 singles, Polayes took down Annina Brendel 6-2, 7-5. Polayes improved to 7-1 on court two and 7-2 in dual play.

On court six, Koehler led Mendoza by a set at 7-5, 2-3 when that match was halted due to the clinching point, and Edwards was tied with Dominika Lackova 6-7, 6-1 on court one at the time as well. Both of those contests were left unfinished.

"I was impressed with our focus in our first outside match of the season," said Gonzaga head coach D.J. Gurule. "We are very much looking forward to tomorrow's match against a ranked Irvine team."

With the win, Gonzaga improved to 8-1 on the season, matching last year's win total through just nine matches. The Zags will put that record on the line Thursday, March 12, when they play their first ranked team of the season, #55 UC Irvine. That contest will take place at UC Irvine Tennis Stadium, an outdoor set of courts on the UC Irvine campus.

Gonzaga 5, Youngstown State 0
Mar 11, 2015 at Costa Mesa, Calif. (Orange County College)